1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally related to a condition indicator and, more particularly, to an indicator which provides information relating to the attachment condition of one or more fasteners used to retain an outboard motor to the transom of marine vessel.
2. Description of the Related Art
Those skilled in the art of marine vessels and marine propulsion devices are familiar with various ways in which outboard motors are attached to the transom of a marine vessel. Typically, a transom bracket is attached to the rear surface of a boat transom and the transom bracket is configured to support an outboard motor in a manner that allows the outboard motor to be tilted about a generally horizontal axis and steered about a generally vertical axis. Depending on the size of the outboard motor, various types of threaded clamps or bolts can be used to perform the function of attaching the transom bracket to the transom of a marine vessel. Relatively small outboard motors can be attached to the transom through the use of manually rotatable thumb screws. Larger outboard motors are typically attached to the transom through the use of a plurality of bolts that extend through both the transom and the transom bracket. In this latter situation, the nuts used to attach the bolts to the transom and transom bracket can inadvertently become loosened. Various techniques are known to those skilled in the art for inhibiting the loosening of the nut from a bolt. In addition, some techniques are known for visually indicating this loosening, particularly in the case of nuts that are used to retain wheels to land vehicles.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,725,790, which issued to Halagarda on Aug. 27, 1929, describes a lock nut. The invention's object is to provide lock nuts used in pairs which may be conveniently applied to the nuts of threaded bolts and will be effective for preventing displacements. This device permits the convenient removal of the bolts and provides springs which are coiled on the nuts.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,331,430, which issued to Lutzke et al. on May 25, 1982, discloses a trim mechanism with an automatic return. A tilt mechanism for a marine propulsion device has a swivel bracket pivotally attached to a transom bracket. A trim pin is carried by a trim pin carrier which is pivotally attached to the swivel bracket.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,545,770, which issued to Ferguson on Oct. 8, 1985, describes an outboard motor mounting arrangement. It includes a transom bracket having a mounting portion fixed to the rear of a boat transom below the upper edge thereof and a pair of laterally spaced arms extending upwardly from the mounting portion and including respective upper ends located rearwardly of the boat transom and above the upper edge thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,666,410, which issued to Anselm on May 19, 1987, describes a mounting arrangement for a marine propulsion device. The device comprises a transom bracket adapted to be fixedly connected to the transom, a swivel bracket pivotally connected to the transom bracket for vertical swinging movement about a horizontal tilt axis, and a kingpin having upper and lower ends fixed to the swivel bracket and a central portion intermediate the ends.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,930,744, which issued to Woodard et al. on Jun. 5, 1990, describes a programmed mechanism for selectively locating swivel brackets relative to transom brackets. It comprises a swivel bracket pivotally connected to the propulsion unit for relative steering movement therebetween about a steering axis, a link pivotally connected at one end to the swivel bracket about an axis transverse to the steering axis and having a laterally outwardly extending out-turned end, and a transom bracket adapted to be mounted on a transom of a boat.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,009,619, which issued to Meier on Apr. 23, 1991, describes a corrosion protection system. A marine propulsion device includes a transom bracket fabricated of a metal which is less noble than another metal from which a transom is fabricated. It also includes a mechanism for detachably mounting the transom bracket on the transom and for simultaneously electrically insulating the transom bracket from the transom.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,599, which issued to Binversie et al. on Sep. 3, 1991, describes a cover for transom bracket mounting screws. The apparatus comprises a transom bracket including an upper portion and a portion extending downwardly from the upper portion and having a surface adapted to engage the boat transom. It also comprises means including a bolt member for releasably clamping the downwardly extending portion to the boat transom.
British Patent GB 2,242,720, which issued to Marczynski et al. and published on Sep. 10, 1991, describes a looseness indicator for fasteners. A safety indicating device is provided to indicate whether or not a vehicle wheel nut has become loose on its stud. It comprises a body and a pointer. The body has grooves enabling the device to be releasably secured to a nut so that the pointer points towards a reference mark.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,956, which issued to Binversie et al. on Oct. 1, 1991, describes a marine propulsion device with a dual position tilt lock. It comprises a transom bracket adapted to be mounted on a boat transom and including an upper surface, a swivel bracket connected to the transom bracket for pivotal movement about a horizontal tilt axis, a holding member pivotally mounted on the swivel bracket for movement about a horizontal second axis between a park position, a low-tilt position, and a high-tilt position.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,178,568, which issued to Binversie et al. on Jan. 12, 1993, describes a marine propulsion device with a trailing mechanism including a positive mechanical latch. It comprises a transom bracket adapted to be mounted on a boat transom and including laterally spaced rearwardly extending port and starboard portions. It also comprises a swivel bracket including a first leg connected to the transom bracket for pivotal movement about a horizontal axis and a second leg extending generally perpendicularly to the first leg and including a transversely extending portion extending in closely adjacent relation to both of the rearwardly extending laterally spaced transom bracket portions.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,624,218, which issued to Dauwalter on Apr. 29, 1997, describes a safety lock device for screw fasteners. It is intended to indicate tightness of the fasteners or looseness of either or both of two fasteners. It additionally limits counter rotation of either fastener to a small fraction of a turn. It is characterized by a pair of replaceable caps anchored to each fastener and a loose lanyard extending between the caps when the fasteners are in tightened condition.
British Patent GB 2,325,505, which issued to Marczynski et al. and was published on Nov. 25, 1998, describes a wheel nut position indicator and dust cap. The indicator comprises a body with an integral pointer. The body has a central bore provided with splines or grooves which engage a wheel nut in one of a plurality of positions, such that the pointer is aligned relative to a florescent reference mark.
British Patent GB 2,343,726, which issued to Marczynski et al. and was published on May 17, 2000, describes an indicating loosening of a nut or bolt. The nut or bolt has a mounting element permanently fixed to or integral with it and an indicator element is non-rotatably mounted on the mounting element in one of a plurality of positions. Loosening is indicated by movement of the indicator relative to a reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,227,920, which issued to Alby et al. on May 8, 2001, discloses a fastener for attaching an outboard motor to a transom of a boat. It comprises an elongated opening formed in a first component with the elongated opening having a plurality of similarly shaped portions. An insert is disposable into each one of the plurality of similarly shaped portions and can be square in a preferred embodiment. Each of the plurality of the similarly shaped portions of the elongated opening is shaped to receive the insert therein. The insert is limited in movement by the elongated opening to a direction that is perpendicular to the plane of the elongated opening. A hole is formed in the second component and a cylindrical member is disposed through the insert, through the hole, and through the elongated opening.
British Patent GB 2,393,488, which issued to Brawley and was published on Mar. 31, 2004, describes a wheel nut indicator mount. The mount has a body with a socket for engagement with a wheel nut and supports a wheel nut indicator in a desired orientation of the body displaced axially outwardly of the wheel nut. Preferably, two or more of the mounts can be stacked together to enable the wheel nut indicator to be used when a step ring is fitted to the vehicle wheel.
British Patent GB 2,406,365, which issued to Marczynski et al. and was published on Mar. 30, 2005, describes a security device which comprises a pair of sockets for fitting onto a pair of adjacent nuts or bolts. The sockets are permanently connected to each other by an intermediate link. Preferably each socket is provided with a pointer and the intermediate link with at least one pointer as an indicator means.
British Patent GB 2,409,888, which issued to Thomson et al. and was published on Jul. 13, 2005, describes a rotation indicator for screw threaded connectors used to secure railway tracks. It involves a plastic cap which carries an arrow or other indicator aligned with a datum. The indicator allows the loosening of the screw threaded connector to be detected. Other rotational indicators disclosed in this British patent include a transmitter attached to the screw threaded connector and mixing two chemicals to emit thermal or visible radiation.
The patents described above are hereby expressly incorporated by reference in the description of the present invention.
The patents described above relate to the prevention of rotation of nuts relative to associated bolts and the indication of the loosening of nuts from bolts. Some of the patents described above illustrate various ways to attach a transom plate to a transom of a marine vessel. Some of the patents identified above relate to land vehicles, such as trucks, and provide visual indications that nuts have become loose relative to associated studs of the vehicle. It would be significantly beneficial if an indicator system could be provided that identified the loosening of a nut relative to a bolt used to attach an outboard motor to a transom of a marine vessel. This would be particularly useful in view of the fact that many such attachment schemes utilize bolt and nut combinations in which either the nut or the head of the bolt can possibly rotate relative to stationary components, such as the transom or transom bracket, and any rotation of the bolt itself can defeat the applicability of an indicator which is designed to merely indicate the rotation of the nut relative to the transom bracket. Therefore, it would be particularly beneficial if an indicator device could be provided in which the head of a bolt can be retained in position while a nut attached to the bolt can be provided with an indicator that would indicate the relative rotation between the nut and the head of the bolt in addition to indicating the relative rotation between the nut and the transom bracket or transom.